SPORTSBIZ -- KEVIN KLEPS

Big Ten could shine during March Madness -- or not

Blog Entry: March 06, 2013 10:21 AM | Author: KEVIN KLEPS

Is this the Big Ten's year?

Will the conference win its first men's basketball championship since 2000?

By now, you know when it comes to March Madness, you might as well defer to the person in your office who hasn't watched a game all year. He or she probably will have a better bracket than you, and you'll be left wondering why you never win the work pool.

All craziness aside, the Big Ten — as we witnessed last night, when Ohio State won at Indiana and Iowa defeated Illinois — is as strong as it's been in a long time. ESPN analyst Ken Pomeroy even speculated last month that the conference could be historically great.

Joe Lunardi's latest projected NCAA tournament bracket, which was updated prior to Ohio State's huge road win, has five Big Ten teams earning at least a No. 5 seed. Lunardi has Indiana getting a No. 1 seed, Michigan a No. 2, Michigan State a No. 3, Ohio State a No. 4 and Wisconsin a No. 5. The five clubs are all 11-5 or better in league play.

Lunardi also has Illinois making the dance as a No. 9 seed, and Minnesota receiving a No. 10. Iowa (19-11 overall and tied with Illinois at 8-9 in the Big Ten) might also be in the at-large discussion, depending on how it fares in next week's conference tournament.

The Big Ten should have multiple teams as Final Four threats, you say?

Well, that hasn't been the case very often since 2000, when Michigan State won the national championship and Wisconsin joined the Spartans in the Final Four.

Since 2001, the Big Ten has had at least a pair of Elite Eight teams only twice in 12 years — 2001 (two) and 2005 (three). In 2011, '08, '06 and '04, the conference didn't advance a team past the Sweet 16.

That doesn't mean the league has been an NCAA bust in that span. Five Big Ten squads have played in the national championship game since 2000 — Michigan State (2009 and 2000), Ohio State (2007), Illinois (2005) and Indiana (2002) — and nine have made the Final Four in that span.

If you look deeper, though, the Big Ten has struggled in the tournament, aside from maybe one or two teams each year.

The conference has won at least 10 games in March Madness only twice in the last 11 NCAA tournaments — 2005 and 2012. One, 2004-05, was a very good season, with Illinois and Michigan State moving on to the Final Four and Wisconsin advancing to a regional final. The other, last season, wasn't, as only the Buckeyes made it past the Sweet 16.

That could change this year.

One thing that appears almost certain: The Big Ten will match its all-time high with seven NCAA bids, and there is an outside chance the league will have eight clubs in the Big Dance for the first time.

Selection Sunday is 11 days away.

Big things will be expected from a conference that could use some March Madness success that extends beyond one or two teams.

Give him the heater, Vaughn

The Akron Aeros' promotional schedule, which was released Tuesday, included this gem: a Roger Dorn snow globe giveaway on July 13. Actor Corbin Bernsen will be on hand, and the Aeros will have a 1980s Cleveland Indians jersey auction. There will be fireworks that night, too.

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